Happy New Year - (Yes, it's a few days early)
by AangKatara777
Summary: Kya and her lovely parents, Aang and Katara - On the Avatar universe's New Year's Eve, Kya decides that she is responsible enough to handle hanging out with her friends in Republic City at night. Her mother is skeptical, and her father is trusting, but cautious. However, the fifteen year old's amazing night doesn't turn out like she expects. Rated T for slightly mature themes.
1. Chapter 1

I feel like it's time. I'm old enough. I have good reasoning.

It just makes sense.

I might as well tell them. My mother stands in the kitchen, cooking up some sort of stew for all of us, dividing it in half - one side with meat and one side without. It smells good, and I recognize it to be her favorite dish. She must be in a good mood - now is my chance.

I walk up to her, smiling brightly. After cutting up a few pieces of chicken pig and sliding them into the pot, she wipes the traces of meat off her fingers and turns to me with a kind, yet curious smile.

"What do you need, Kya? The food's not going to be ready for another half an hour or so; it has to simmer," she picks up her ladle and swirls the meat around in the pot, but she returns her gaze to me, expecting an answer.

"Well, you see, tonight's the night of the new year..."

My mom grins. She's amused. "I am aware. Talk to your father; he and your uncle are in charge of what fireworks are going to be used. They'll know more than me."

She doesn't expect what I'm going to say. Great. "What? No."

Now she's confused, this isn't going as planned. "Don't you want to set them off this year? I know you and Bumi enjoy doing that."

"Oh! Well, no, not exactly. I was just-" I'm stuttering and being awkward, so I cut to the chase, "I was wondering if I could go out with some friends this year?"

She raises an eyebrow at me, "Which of your friends?"

"Well... I don't know, there's a lot."

Her quizzical glance has turned into an all out skeptical glare, "So, a party."

"I... guess you could say that." Way to go, me.

"Are there going to be boys?"

"Well... yes. Boys that happen to be my friends." My voice is beginning to smooth out, I just need to explain my side. I am fifteen, and that's old enough to hang out with guys my age. I'm not going to hurt myself, I just want to be with my friends and have a good time. There's no harm in that.

"I haven't heard of these boy friends."

"What about boyfriends?" My father walks in through the door, carrying half a dozen fireworks, setting them down on the kitchen table. He eyes us curiously and then his face loses a few shades of color, "This isn't a lady talk is it? I thought we were done with those."

"I don't know. Kya?" My mom had been looking at my dad, but now she's looking at me pointedly, "_is _this a lady talk?"

"No!" I am blushing now. I'm not trying to ask for permission to do anything like that, I just want to hang out with my friends! Why is that so hard for her to understand. I look at my dad, "Dad, I just want to hang out with some friends tonight. Some of them happen to be guys, but I'm not romantically interested in any of them, I just want to spend time with everyone!"

My dad seems to be considering it and he turns from me to my mom saying, "I don't see anything wrong with that as long as she doesn't stay out too late."

I'm glad my dad understands.

My mom on the other hand, "I haven't even met any of these guy friends she's talking about, and you're fine with letting her be with them on a very crowded and dangerous night in the city?" Now she's fighting with my dad. I sigh.

Dad puts his hands up in defense, "I don't know, Katara, I don't think anything's wrong with it. Kya's a fighter, and she has good morals. Nothing would happen."

"Fine," she turns to me, "I'll think about it, but I guess you can go unless I decide otherwise. You're a responsible girl, I just worry sometimes," and then she turns to my dad suddenly with her motherly what-are-you-doing look, saying, "-and for the spirits' sake, Aang, keep those outside. You're going to burn the house down!"

My dad laughs, "Relax, they're not even lit." He chuckles and starts out the door, but Tenzin squeezes in to run to mom.

"Mom, Bumi found matches and I think he's gonna try and light a firework!" My twelve-year-old brother seems flustered, and instantly my mom is too.

"What?" She worriedly asks, already rushing out the door, following Tenzin, turning back to me only once to say, "If you're going, be responsible." Then, just like that, she's gone.

I'd say it went pretty well.

* * *

Later that night, we finish eating our stew and my parents sit, joking around with my Uncle Sokka and Aunt Suki about their first New Year's in Republic City. Something about my uncle having to regrow his eyebrows and how he felt like some mechanist/sciencey guy they once knew. All I cared about was the fact that my friends wanted me to be in the city soon.

I raise my hand, my previous attempts at getting their attention failing. Soon, the adults' eyes fall on me. "I don't mean to interrupt, but my friends kinda want me in the city around now to meet them."

My mom doesn't seem happy, but she doesn't speak up about having changed her mind, she merely states, "Do you need us to fly you over?"

"Umm... yeah I guess so."

"I'd rather we did, just so we know where you're at," Her stern motherly look has turned into a caring, yet worried motherly look, "In case anything happens."

"Nothing's going to happen, I'll be fine." I give her a reassuring smile. There's nothing for her to worry about.

"Wait, you're not lighting the fireworks with me?" Bumi whines, "Kya, that's like our thing!"

"I'm sorry, Bumi, not this year. Maybe next year." I smile at him too, but he just resorts to pouting. Typical mature big brother.

"I can fly you over, Kya," My dad states. I'm relieved, now I won't have to worry about my mom changing her mind on the way there.

"Thanks," I say, turning to my mom, "Sorry I won't be able to help clean the dishes, mom."

"No, its fine. I have Suki to help," - she grins and elbows Suki in the arm softly - "Just... go have fun." She smiles and stands up, and as me and my dad leave, I faintly hear her call from the kitchen, "You get in here an help too, Bumi."

I chuckle to myself. Sucks for him.

* * *

Once we're on Appa, whom we had to wake from what must have been a very good nap, my dad and I fly in silence over to the city. That is, until he turns to me, saying -

"I know I'm pretty lenient about rules for you and your siblings, but I do want you to know that its because I trust you."

I look over at him, "Yeah, I know, and I appreciate that."

"I'm just trying to say, don't use my leniency as a reason to mess around or do things that you don't think you should." He turns to me, and I can see that there's some worry in them, "You're my little girl. I don't care that you're fifteen. You're still very precious to me, so I don't want you to get hurt."

I laugh slightly, grinning at him, "I know, dad. I'll be totally fine."

He chuckles softly as well, "I know you will."

We make it to where my friends are waiting and my dad hugs me goodbye. I tell him to pick me up a half an hour after the fireworks, and he says that it sounds like a good plan, flying back over to the island on Appa.

I don't entirely know what I expect. My dad dropped me off in a street where there was a lot of light and festivities going on, and it where my friends were at the time, but now we're switching locations.

I go with them because I honestly don't think they're going to do anything bad. I know my friends.

Or maybe I don't. We arrive at this unattended empty storehouse where candles have been lit and people are setting out all sorts of refreshments, but not many snacks. There's a strange smell in the air and its not very pleasing to inhale. I awkwardly stand in the corner as people start dancing oddly with each other and a singer starts singing unappealing songs in the corner.

One of my friends hands me a glass of some fruity red drink but after one sip I have this burning sensation in my throat and I decide that it is not the drink for me.

After half an hour, I decide that I need to get a breath of air, so I walk out the doors. I lean up against the closed window shades and stare up at the moon. It's not really bright tonight, but the lights from the city keep everything mostly visible. I close my eyes and breathe, maybe I should have just stayed and lit fireworks with my family. At least there I'd be talking to someone and laughing, instead of being cooped up in a dark room full of odd sounds and weird people and burning drinks.

Come to think of it, this is exactly what my mom thought I was going to be doing tonight, but I convinced her otherwise. I'm technically betraying my word to her. But, in my defense, I don't want to be here anymore. I am just about to walk towards the docks to ski back over to the island when three boys stop me.

I only know one of them, but he is older than me by about two years, actually maybe three.

"Hey, where you goin', Kya? The fun's just starting." His words seem slurred together a bit, and I wonder if he's been drinking. Though, technically I did too, but not that much.

"I just... needed a little air is all, but I'm not feeling well, I think I'm gonna head home." I try to walk around them but they get in my way.

"Noo, I think you wanna stay here, girlie." This guy's voice is pretty deep for a teenager's, and he looks pretty strong. I suddenly wish I could vanish, or at least shoot myself into the air to avoid these guys. Unfortunately, I'm not an airbender.

"Noo, I don't." I mimick his tone slightly, beginning to get irritated. This was a bad idea, I just want to be with my mom and dad and family.

The muscular one grabs my shoulder and forces me back against the window shades, "Are you mockin' me?-" and after a moment - "You are, aren't you. I don't like that."

Before I know it, the three guys are grabbing me, pushing me back into an dead end alley way. My head slams against the wall of the building behind me, and suddenly I wish I had never even asked to come here tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Aang's POV**

I dropped Kya off a little over a half an hour ago, she seemed happy to see her friends, and they were in a pretty well lit up area. I'm not worried. I told Katara all of this and she seemed to relax a bit too.

They finished cleaning up from dinner so she is now watching me and Sokka put the fireworks into their position for the New Year's show. Bumi sits somewhere to my left trying to convince Tenzin to light the fireworks with him, but I doubt he'll get him to.

We're almost done when Sokka realizes something, "Aw, man! We didn't get the swirly one!"

Katara and Suki look over at him skeptically, Suki saying, "The swirly one?"

"Yeah, the one that goes _whoooooooooo-!" _He dramatically demonstrates how the firework explodes, leaving a trail of mist and lights that in is opinion looks like a dragon.

"I thought you were supposed to be picking that one up from the warehouse yesterday." I look at him, standing up from my kneeling position on the ground and stretching out my back.

"Well-! ... I must have forgotten. Do you think we have time to get it?" Sokka asks me, and after looking from him to the clock on the outside of our shed, to my wife, and back to him, I say -

"Yeah, I'll fly in - AGAIN - and grab it."

"Thanks, bud, you're a life saver." Sokka says, obviously relieved.

"Well, that's my job." I grin and walk over to Appa's barn, riding him back into the city.

The woman at the warehouse is very nice and lets me pick up the firework from the back room where they were keeping it. I step in and see the firework sitting on the floor against the back wall. I slip the explosive into my arms and am beginning to walk out when I hear a strange scuffling sound from the building to my right. The walls are thin, so I can also make out a lot of the music and loud conversations coming from the other side of this warehouse.

I turn back to meet up with the woman and I comment on it, "Is there a party going on in that warehouse?"

The women shrugs, "It sure sounds like it. It's been a party central to all these young people for many years since I've been here when we first opened these warehouses. I tend to just not pay attention, especially with all of the craziness of New Years."

"I see. I might check it out though, it sounds like there's a fight going on nearby though, so that's my cue." I smile slightly and wave goodbye to the woman, thanking her for her services.

I quickly place the firework onto Appa's saddle, then I make my way over to where I heard those scuffling sounds coming from, ready to break up whatever drunken fight that is taking place there.

* * *

**Kya's POV**

"Stop..." I mutter as one of the boys wraps his hand around the collar of my dress. My head is still throbbing from the impact of them slamming me up against the wall, so I'm finding it hard to regain my senses and push him away. The other boys are holding me back anyways.

I try digging my free hand's nails into the boys shoulder, but that only gets him mad. In one swift movement he pulls down on my collar, effectively ripping it and exposing my chest bindings. I yelp and start kicking furiously as he starts to go for the wrappings.

"Come on, Kya!" He sounds angry, I don't understand why, since I'm the one being attacked here, "You know you want it."

"No, actually," I growl through the throbbing of my skull, "I don't!" I rip my other hand free from the boys using my nails and gather water from the air quickly, just like my mother taught me. I use the water to send the boy in front of me back. For a second, I think I'm winning, but then the other two boys take me down again.

They shove me into the corner of the alley and one of them takes out a knife.

"Wha-what are you-? No. D-don't do anything stupi-" The wind is knocked out of me as one of them kicks me in the stomach. I'm unable to speak for a moment as they shove me down on my stomach and proceed to cut through my chest bindings from the back.

I don't know what to do. Somebody has to come... please...

But I'm alone. My so-called friends are too drunk to care about anything and my parents are far away on their island. I'm in an alley between two empty warehouses. No one is coming for me.

The boy sitting on my back just sliced my back with his knife. It could have been an accident, but I don't care because he's reaching around me and. This is... this is terrible. I'm wiggling with all of my might but he's too heavy. He stands and kicks me again, causing me to flinch and groan.

But then, he's lifted off of me by something, or someone. I quickly sit up and curl into the corner, sobbing, too scared to look at what was happening to my attackers. I hear impacts, repeated ones, along with the groans of whoever was hit. The earth shakes a bit as someone in the group earthbends. There are cries of descent, but I still don't turn around, my arms firmly locked around my chest as I cry.

A few moments later, there is silence, and then an all too familiar, and all too calming voice.

"Oh, Kya..." My father.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Oh, Kya..." My father._

I shakily turn to him, my teeth chattering in the cold and tears spilling from my eyes. I make eye contact with him, fulling expecting him to yell at me or something since I betrayed his trust. However, all I find in his eyes is fear, concern, and most of all... love. He falls to his knees in front of me, quickly pulls off his outer cloak, and wraps it around my form, pulling me close. Its warm, he's warm.

He hugs me tightly, only for about ten seconds before speaking to me.

"Do you know these boys?" He sounds angry, but I don't think that anger is directed towards me...

I gulp. "O-one of them... slightly... but not the others..." I mumble into his chest, holding back a shaky sob.

"Did they..."

"No." They didn't, but I was so stupid. If my dad hadn't come, I probably would have let them - not because I was willing, but because I was weak.

"I'm going to get you home now, I think this party is over." His voice is stern, and my doubts about it being directed at me are not strong anymore. I nod slowly into his chest as he scoops me up, carrying me past the boys, who are now unconscious and earthbent into the ground, their heads exposed so they can breathe. He jumps up and places me on Appa's saddle, tucking another blanket around me. I huddle into it, not anxious to hear what my parents lecture me about tonight.

My dad starts stepping over onto Appa's head but I stop him with a blubbery whisper, "I didn't... I didn't know this would happen. I-I just wanted... to hang out with my friends...and-"

"Shhh," He silences me with a soft whisper, kneeling down beside me, "I know, Kya... It's okay. You're safe now."

He places a kiss on my forehead, and I believe him.

We make it back to our island a few minutes later, and without mentioning that I am on the saddle, my dad delivers a spiral shaped firework to my Uncle Sokka, telling everybody he'll be back in a moment. My mom only questions him for a moment before letting him leave.

He flies us over to my room, which thankfully has a nice view of the bay, which is where the fireworks will be.

He carries me into my room and sets me down on my bed, pulling back the covers in case i want to get in. However, he then squats down in front of me, looking into my eyes softly but expectantly. He wants me to explain.

"I... don't know what to say." I mumble, my lip quivering.

"Let's focus on one thing at a time, sweetie," he says, "Are you hurt?"

"Kind of... not seriously though," I avoid his gaze.

"Howso? I want you to feel better." He leans forward and tilts his head to look at me.

"They shoved my head against a wall...and they... they kicked me a bunch and...the one with the knife, he cut my back..." I stuttered through all of my pains and my dad stood up when I was done.

"He cut you? How badly?" He started reaching for my back but gasped when he saw the blood seeping through the blanket he placed around his cloak around me. He pealed away the blanket and the cloak, causing me to throw my arms over my chest again, revealing the 4 inch slice beside my shoulder blade. "Wow, that's deep, Kya. You should have told me!"

He bent water from my face washing basin to clean up my blood stained back. Deciding that the cloak is ruined, he then found a clean area of it and pressed it into my back, causing me to wince.

"Hold that there, if you can. I'll get you some fresh clothes, but then I have to get your mother."

"What? No, dad, please, she will literally kill me." I am begging him, but he is just shaking his head.

"I don't know how to heal, Kya, she does. She's the best at it. And I was going to have to tell her about this anyways. This is too severe of a situation," he says sternly to me, but he does not look mad. "I'll be back."

"But-"

"No, buts."

When he leaves, I stand up and discard the bloody blanket and my now bloody wrappings. I keep my left arm securely wrapped around a pillow covering my chest and my right hand presses the makeshift bandage into my back. I'm getting woozy from the smell of blood and possibly blood loss, but I'm not entirely sure how much has left my body.

My parents return a few minutes later and my mother surprisingly isn't angry with me. She rushes into the room, pulls me against her in a tight, motherly embrace, and then gets to work healing my back. While she works, my dad asks me if my stomach is okay from getting kicks and I tell him I'll be fine. After my mom is done, she puts a bandage on my cut for good measure and helps me into my fresh wrappings and bed robe as my dad looks away. They settle me into my bed, and that's when the questions really come.

I explain what happened and how I didn't know that it was actually a party where bad stuff was going to happen and I confessed to drinking a little alcohol - even though I didn't actually know it was that at the time. They sit there silently and listen to me talk and when I finish, they look at each other and say "Okay."

I'm confused. I don't know how parents work or how they can read each other's minds, but I am intrigued.

"Are you sorry about what happened?" My mom asks me.

"Honestly, I'm not sorry I went out with my friends, because I do feel that I am responsible enough to handle being alone with people my age... But... I _am _sorry that I did not take the time to realize that my friends weren't what they seem. I'm sorry I didn't take your feelings about going out tonight into consideration. I'm sorry I didn't listen and that I scared you... If I could redo this night, I would stay home as always and be with you all..." I confess to them, looking down at my hands the entire time, but then at they end I look up at them, saying one final, "I'm sorry."

My mom looks at my dad again with a slight smile, but then back to me, "I'm just glad you're safe. I'm not going to say I told you so, because the world is full of surprises that we often don't expect. There's no way we could have predicted that this would happen, and I believe that you did not see it coming either."

"We just need you to promise us that you are going to be better prepared next time you do something like go into the city alone." My dad adds.

I nod quickly, "I promise."

My mom says "good", and the two of them smile, asking me if I feel up for helping Bumi with the fireworks. I quickly agree.

That night I spend with my family. I may feel prepared to take on the world alone, but in the end, my family knows what is best for me. At least for now, I'm perfectly content letting them pave my way through my young life - until I'm able to fight my own battles.

As we set off and watch the fireworks explode in the sky that night, me and my brother losing an eyebrow hair here and there, I decide that this year I show my family that I have what it takes to be the responsible girl I know I can be.


End file.
